I am launching a brand new project in 2013 - a series of Inspirational Conversations with some of Sydney's most fascinating and creative people.
The Conversations, organised in conjunction with the City of Sydney Libraries, will be held at Ultimo Library on the final Wednesday evening of each month.
The very first Conversation for the year will be with the inspiring and absolutely amazing Stacey Demarco.

The fabulous Stacey Demarco

We'll be talking about how to get inspired, how to stay inspired and how to use the power of thought to drive us forward in our creative projects.Stacey Demarco is a Modern Witch and the author several books on the subject of witchcraft and personal development.

I know you will agree that Stacey will be a fascinating person to hear, and she will offer a truly unique insight into how to get inspired.
Just click through here to book your place at this free event.

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (EST)

In the 1970s Druids were big. English chidren's television, which became Australian children's television through the agency of the ABC, was filled with supernatural stories based on Druids and Druidic mysteries. I remember a particularly terrifying series based at Stonehenge where Druids turned out to be space aliens (I have no idea what this was called - I would love it if someone could indentify it for me), and of course one of my favourite shows was that almost-perfect series about a time-travelling Druid, Catweazle.

Much later in life I stumbled upon the Druids again, this time in my research into the esoteric and self-help movements of the Nineteenth Cenury. It was in this period that Druidry was re-invented, in self-consciously archaic secret societies that romanticised ideas of old England and rejected the stuffy, rigid Christianity of the era. In this period England saw a renaissance in antique social rituals and societies. Mummers, Oddfellows and Druids sprung up after an absence of hundreds of years. By the early 20th Century Theosophists such as G.R.S. Mead were talking up Druidry as a source of the continuous and ancient Wisdom that has always been at large in our world, though in different guises.

The Druids were, of course, an ancient priesthood (that was, apparently, open to women as well as men) that managed to preserve ancient Celtic religious rituals in the British Isles. The ancient Romans were said to have been terrified of them. Caesar wrote about them saying that they worshipped the same gods as the Romans, though under different names. The Roman disapproval stemmed from their habit of burning human sacrifices in wicker cages. Druidic horse sacrifices were still occurring in Ulster as late as the twelfth century.

Meyrick and Smith, the English folk historians, cast the Druids as a benign scholarly class in ancient England, and that is largely the way they are viewed now. These days Druids are seen as eco-warriors and maintainers of romantic ideas of wilderness and antique living. They cultivate groves and hold secret rituals within them, and in books such as Druid Magic the ancient tradition is cast almost a method of self-help, a way of channeling the wisdom of the natural and ancient world into achieving one's loftiest goals.

Most recently I was very interested in a BBC podcast on the excellent In Our Time series that discussed the Druids in a most scholarly fashion, placing them in history both ancient and modern. I do recommend you have a listen to it.

I have decided to do some serious reading over Summer. So here is my little pile of new books that will make me appear smarter and deeper than I actually am. From the top:

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli - My senior high school principal alerted me to Machiavelli in my final year of school when I was elected a prefect. In retrospect, that was a very peculiar thing to do. I encountered him again studying political philosophy as an undergraduate. It's time I read him once more, I think.

Illuminations by Walter Benjamin - If you have studied lit. at a tertiary academy in the past ten years it is impossible to avoid the name of Walter Benjamin. But guess what? I have never read him! Not a word! Well, I am about to change that.

The Popes by John Julius Norwich - Should be an interesting counterpoint to Machiavelli. I adore the Popes and any intrigue to do with the Catholic Church, and I also adore the charming and old-world John Julius Norwich, so I am really looking forward to this one.

The Basic Works of Aristotle - Bite the bullet, Walter. I walk around with an enormous inferiroty complex because I have never studied Western philosophy in any systematic way. This might mark a beginning.

The Quest for Proust by Andre Maurois - I am a Proust groupie and read anything Proust-related for pleasure. But it sounds so much more impressive than it actually is.

Arrival City by Doug Saunders - I read an essay by Mr. Saunders in the Spectator ages ago and ever since then this book has been on my list. Basically he says what I think: that the global shift towards living in mega-cities is a good thing, and we should embrace, celebrate and facilitate this change in lifestyle. Looking forward to him helping me hone my arguments.

We are launching the series in true style with the amazing Modern Witch Stacey Demarco. Stacey is the author of Witch in the Boardroom, Witch in the Bedroom and many others, including a very successful annual Moon Diary. Hers is a voice and perspective rarely heard in contemporary culture, so I am really delighted that she will be the first ever inspiring conversationalist! Stacey's session has already been booked out (in a matter of days!), but you can still register to go on the cancellation list here

These conversations are free, but you must book through the Sydney City Library's booking system.

Details:

Inspirational Conversations: Maintaining Your PassionWalter Mason talks to Stacey Demarco about maintaining your passion. Stacey is a Witch, metaphysicist and popular writer who believes ancient techniques can solve modern problems. In this conversation, Stacey talks about the power of thought to keep us inspired and help make our dreams a reality.

On the 27th February at 6pm I am hosting Vogel Prize winning author Belinda Castles, and we'll be talking about finding inspiration.
You can book for this event here
Read more about Belinda here

On Wednesday 27 March at 6pm we have the fabulous Gabrielle Lord, the Godmother of Australian crime writing, talking about where creativity comes from.
You can book for this event here
Read more about Gabrielle here

There is no point pretending that the book industry is not going through
"interesting times." I think the head-in-the-sand approach has
failed us, and it will only continue to inflict damage on authors, booksellers
and publishing houses. Realities have to be faced and new ways of thinking have
to be introduced.

I speak as something of an insider. I have been watching bookshops in Sydney
close since the late 90s.

Indeed, I have been present on the shop floor when a
few of them went under, and I was always immensely frustrated by the response
of customers and so-called "devoted readers." Working in a shop that
had closed its second branch, for months I would meet angry customers who would
storm in to the remaining branch (now itself closed) and demand, "Why did
you close that branch? I loved that place." I bottled it in for a while,
but finally I couldn't and I began to answer them bluntly: "You obviously didn't love it
enough - it went broke." If they’d found the time to act on that “love”
and actually darken the shop’s doorstep more frequently it would have survived.

Just imagine what would happen if each of us just once a year selected one book we loved and set about promoting it and
telling everyone about it. I might be naive, but I think that that kind of
grass-roots promotion would be incredibly effective, and help to establish a
much more vibrant and engaged book culture.

We have seen evidence of just such people power in recent times. The huge
amount of energy this year that helped create Stella Awards, and the accompanying
Australian Women Writers Challenge is a wonderful example, and NationalBookshop Day is another. I have also been impressed by the work of libraries in
promoting 2012 as the Year of Reading. Power to the people! All of these things are
projects we as individuals need to get behind.

So many of us want to preserve some elements of the literary culture that we
know and love, but so few of us are prepared to make any effort to ensure that
preservation. If bookshops, authors, publishers and local literature are to
survive then each and every one of us needs to get active. Here are some ideas
of how we, as humble readers, can hope to save the humble book:

1.Support your local bookseller – if we really believe in
diversity and uniqueness on our high streets we need to put our money where
our mouths are. And we need to do this intentionally and self-consciously. It’s
all too easy to order our books on-line, all the while telling people how we
just adore going into bookshops and browsing around.

2.Attend author events, bring your friends even help to
organise them – for a local literary culture to thrive there needs to be an
active and commercially viable “scene” in which authors can speak and be heard.
Melbourne is very good at this kind of thing, but Sydney significantly less so.
Author readings and talks are probably the cheapest entertainments currently
available, and are well worth supporting. Take a chance and go to hear an
author you’ve never heard of before, or challenge your intellectual limits by
going to hear about something about which you’ve previously held no interest.
Authors commonly speak at bookshops, libraries and community clubs. If these talks are
not happening in your area, why not start organising some? Almost every author
I know is happy to attend an event that helps spread the love of reading.

3.Support local Writers’ Festivals – If you’re in Sydney
the local Writers’ Festival is a massive affair, but all over the world small
and specialised writers’ festivals take place. Book yourself for that weekend
and go and see everything.

4.Champion favourite books and authors on social media –
I often wish older people could cultivate a bit of rock-star mentality and go
crazy about their favourite books and authors in the way they did about their
favourite singers back when we were teenagers. If you read a great book, tweet
about it and mention it on Facebook. If your favourite author has a new book
coming out, do a countdown for it on your blog. Twitter and Facebook are fast
becoming the main ways people find out about new books, so become an influencer
and share your passions.

5.Take part in reading challenges – These are great fun,
and great ways to broaden your reading repertoire. The peer pressure also
encourages you to read more, which is always a good thing. This year I was a
part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge, and last year I was part of the
R.I.P Challenge, which caused me to read a whole lot of
classic horror novels that I would otherwise never have gotten around to. So do
a Google search on “reading challenge” and pick one that is coming up that
appeals to you and take part. Even better, pick one that’s a real challenge,
and watch your world expand.

6.Help to involve children in reading and writing - Give kids books, take them to readings and to hear children's authors when they speak. Sign them up to the local library and take them weekly. Get them the books on which TV shows and movies are based - encourage them to be curious about the origins of things.

7.Use your local library - Libraries are real treasures and deserve our support. Go to their events, go and check out books, and make it a real resource centre. I often go just to read, or do some writing in my journal, just to be a part of its vibe.

8.Give books as gifts and follow up on the reading - Be annoying and call your friend three weeks after giving them the book to ask them how they liked it. Once you've done this a couple of times I can guarantee they will read it. This might seem a bit aggressive, but we all have impossible schedules, and sometimes we need little reminders to make us do the things we really want to do. I for one appreciate it.

9.Join a book club

10.Stretch
your literary boundaries, and let everyone know - if you've decided to branch out into sci-fi, blog about it and turn it into a bit of a project. Be conscious that your reading life is interesting to others, and that your enthusiasms and curiosities can help and stimulate other readers.

My house can often get very noisy. I like to pop on a CD, or fire up my desktop, or even slide in a cassette tape (yes, I still have a functioning cassette player) and really turn it up loud. If you wander by you will hear me singing. If you peeped inside you might even see my dancing. But no-one has to know about my secret pleasures.
I have always had an infamously bad taste in music, and I am completely incapable of any consistent enthusiasms. In my collection early choral music rubs shoulders with late Barbra Streisand, and the St. Matthew Passion might get played right after Boney M's sadly neglected Oceans of Fantasy album.
So here is the music I played the most this year, and I am delighted to see it displays a praisworthy idiosyncracy:

Attracting Prosperity by Steven Halpern - Unless you are a raving New Ager you probably have no idea who Steven Halpern is. But if you've ever done a yoga class, had a massage or gone in for a spot of colonic irrigation I can bet on the fact that you've heard him. He is the New Age music maestro, the Godfather of tubular synchronised sounds played up against an ocean waves soundtrack. This is part of his subliminal series - while I'm listening to that wafting muzac I am absorbing whispered messages about how rich I am going to be. I find it all incredibly relaxing and, most importantly, I can concentrate on my work while it's on and doing me good.

Stormy Weather by Grace Knight - I love Grace's voice, and I grew up listening to the Eurogliders. This is an album of Grace doing a number of jazz standards, and I always stop and listen to Guess Who I Saw Today, one of the kookiest songs ever, and one I introduced Thang Ngo to when we were both youngsters. Every song on this album makes me happy.

Letting Go - Subliminal Power Series - More New Age musical wallpaper. I adore it because track two is just ocean sounds. It drives my cat crazy, so maybe those subliminal sounds do actually work.

Albinoni 12 Concerti A Cinque, Op. 5 - It might come as a surprise that I did have a formal musical education, and have a very solid library of classics. It's just that I favour the odd and the obscure, or something with a bit of camp back-story. Which is why I favour Signor Albinoni's Opus 5 over the other, better loved, ones. See, I was a hipster before it was even hip.

Club Mixes of the 80s by Phil Harding - Relive your youth, anyone? The moment I put this double CD set on I was instantly seventeen again, and that is why it gets an almost daily spin in my house. The late 80s really represented the pinnacle of popular music in England, and here you have the best of it. Highlights? Jimmy Ruffin's Easy Just to Say and Pepsi & Shirlie's (they were the Wham backup singers, remember?) Heartache.

Cho by Choying Drolma - I had been playing this CD for months when I saw on Facebook that Ani Choying Drolma was coming to do some live concerts in Australia. I went to see her at the Opera House, and of course she was divine. And as a result this has been on constant replay for about six months now. Tibetan chanting re-worked as ambient pop - it is just sublime.

I have had such a busy year, travelling, writing, speaking and teaching. Which is my way of saying that I actually read fewer books this year than I did the year before, despite the professional obligations of reviewing. That means I am going to have to up the ante a little in 2013, and do more reading for pleasure and non-professional improvement.
But there are the six books I absolutely loved this year. I suggest you read them all:

1. Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser - Big, ambitious and almost-perfect, this book kept me constantly surprised, and in awe of the author's skill. An "issues" novel that manges to avoid preaching, the story never takes you where you expect it to. Original and beautifully written.

2. Love & Hunger by Charlotte Wood - This is a cookbook and a series of meditations on food and its place in our hearts, families and communities. It has inspired me to be a better and more patient cook, and to start cooking for the people I love, the way I used to. It's also the sort of book you could give to anyone. So many people I know have read this book on my recommendation, and every single one of them has loved it.

3. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeannette Winterson - The wonderfully neurotic Winterson turns her pain into exquisite art in this honest and loving book about her mother, a woman who did her best to destroy her. Winterson's reflections on her upbringing are morally complex and based in great part on an immense kindness and willingness to forgive. I loved this book for its subtlety and its refusal to give lazy responses or cliched points of view. Simply brilliant.

4. The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk by Justin Thomas McDaniel - You don't really expect a monograph about Thai Buddhist folklore published by an academic press to be a thrilling read, but this amazing book manages it. Quite simply, McDaniel is a masterful storyteller who knows so much about his subject - the magical practices of folk-Buddhism in contemporary Thailand - and can write about it in a thoroughly entertaining way. Anyone who has ever visited Thailand will find this book constantly fascinating, and anyone who has romantic ideas about Buddhism will be thoroughly challenged.

5. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux - What are the odds of having two books with "ghost" in the title on my list? I read this book while I was engaged in some serious travel, taking a train across Thailand, a plane across Vietnam and endless buses across Cambodia. Fortunately this echoed the patterns of this book, a recreation of Theoux's own original journey across Asia that made him famous when he turned it into a book, The Great Railway Bazaar. Cranky, grumpy and occasionally exasperating, you still can't help but be swept along in the really quite frantic pace of Theroux's compulsive journey.

6. Tennessee: Cry of the Heart by Dotson Rader - Yes, an out-of-print 1980s memoir of the great playwright. This is the record of a long friendship, a kind of sub-genre that I always enjoy. This book really charts the great man's twilight years, when he was frequently drunk, drug-addled and negotiating the services of young hustlers. Rader is a brilliant author, and this scandal-soaked memoir is actually quite affectionate, and ultimately illuminating. Made me love Tennessee even more.

If you are in Australia, you are about to enter into a long Summer break, and many of you will be looking for some lovely books to read during this period. It is also, of course, gift-giving time, and we always want something new for our bookish friends. So with these things in mind, Stephane Dowrick and I did something a little different for this month's episode of the Universal Heart Book Club. We each selected three books we thought might be just the thing, either as a thoughtful Christmas gift or as a lovely gift for yourself for reading during these hot summer days.
Have a look at the video here:

Boy George just gets more and more fabulous with age, and yes, I do say that as a lifelong fan of the man.
But this song just seems perfect for the holiday season, and so I wanted to share it with you all.
This song is recorded with DJ Yoda, and features on his album Chop Suey.
It's a beautiful, laid-back track, and yes, I am certain that it will make you H-A-P-P-Y just listening to it.

Author, healer and psychotherapist Sharon Snir will be speaking at the Sydney Unitarian Church early next year.
Her most recent title, The Little Book of Everyday Miracles, is a heart-warming and constantly inspiring collection of real-life stories about the place of the miraculous in our lives.

In her talk Sharon will be discussing the magical place where love intersects with miracles. It will be a truly wonderful morning, so do put the date aside.

Having recently read and loved Emily Maguire's fascinating novel set in Hanoi, Fishing for Tigers, I have been plunged into a fit of Hanoi nostalgia.
I love Hanoi at this time of year, when it is cold and grey and a whole world away from Saigon.
So I thought I'd share some of my favourite Hanoi moments caught on camera:

Lover of literary legends, Lady Ottoline Morrell is, perhaps, the foremost in my pantheon of obscure heroines. She was the very prototype of the cougar, and she was also the original fag hag. Rich, eccentric and lucky enough to have a very indulgent husband, Ottoline Morrell existed on the fringes of the lives of almost every significant literary figure of the Bloomsbury era. Her extravagance and her peculiarity of dress meant that she became an object of fun, and her single-minded pursuit of the talented saw some unkindly accuse her of pretension, but she remains one of the really great characters of the Edwardian era and beyond.

Born in 1873 to an old aristocratic family, she married into money as well, and her parents-in-law were themselves famous for lionising literary figures, hosting people like Oscar Wilde at their extravagant parties at Headington Hill Hall in Oxford, a property Ottoline was to inherit. In his history of the Bloomsbury group, Leon Edel says that Ottoline was never properly a Bloomsburyite. Instead, he maintains, she created her own satellite group which fed on Bloomsbury and occasionaly offered refuge from it. Starving poets, writers and artists could rely upon her opulent hospitality, though they often rewarded her by gossiping about and lampooning their hostess.

Some viewed her as the saviour of bohemianism, championing the new arts amongst the solidly upper class, encouraging them to invest in books, art, and even painted furniture that represented the new face of Post-Impressionism. Her colourful style and keen endorsement of even the most outlandish creations of the new guard meant she was seen as a great "character," an eccentric of a distinctly English type. Describing her in his book on Bloomsbury, Quentin Bell calls her a "fantastic, baroque flamingo."

For Virginia Nicholson, writing in her superb history Among the Bohemians, Lady Ottoline serves as an exemplar of a sexual type, indeed, the inspiration for the lusty aristocratic lady in Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. It is said that this story is based on Ottoline's real-life affair with her young gardener, conducted under the nose of her unsuspecting husband. Most think that Lady Ottoline had an affair with Lawrence himself while he was still a young and unknown writer, and he described her as a kind of nymphomaniac, a woman incapable of real sexual pleasure but who sought it feverishly.

She does seem to have possessed a fearless capacity for pursuing men who were much younger and vastly socially removed from her. She bedded the priapic Augustus John and famously fell head over heels for the young Bertrand Russell. She was a far from beautiful woman, and in her biography of Virginia Woolf Hermione Lee describes Lady Ottoline rather ungenerously as speaking "in a weird, nasal, cooing, sing-song drawl."

Ottoline's final country house, Garsington, became legendary as a kind of drop-in centre for high Boehmianism, and she managed to create a singular literary salon were, according to Michael Barber, she mixed gruff homeless poets with callow young noblemen and expected all of them to amuse her with culture, gossip and perhaps the occasional roll in the hay. Her long-suffering husband Philip Morrell survived her and spent his final years being fussed over by an equally elderly maid. He seems to have been amused by his wife's flamboyance and constant hospitality.